Employees in limbo, TikTok hoping for ‘solution’ to Ottawa’s shutdown order

OTTAWA — The Liberal government’s move to order the shutdown of TikTok’s Canadian operations over national security concerns has left hundreds of the company’s Canadian employees in limbo.

Ottawa hasn’t publicly specified the date by which TikTok has to comply, and while the company has pledged to fight the order in court, it’s also talking to the government in hopes of finding a “solution.”

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On Nov. 6, the federal government announced it ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform. That means TikTok must “wind down” its operations in Canada, though the app will continue to be available to Canadians.

When the government made the announcement, Erin Lowers was at take-your-kid-to-work day, doing a sneaker-painting activity with her niece. TikTok arranged interviews with her and several of the other affected employees for The Canadian Press.

The company was hosting teens that day, telling them “everything about how lovely our work is, how much we love to do what we do, how we got into our positions,” recalled Lowers, the music lead for the company’s global public policy and product team.

“You have to put on a brave face,” she said. “I can’t sit there and tell my niece the reality of what could happen.”

Vanessa Gaik, executive director of brand partnerships, said people are afraid of losing their jobs ahead of the holidays.

There are “a lot of folks that are trying to power through, that have a really good attitude. But right now, I think the silence and not having any answers has been really troubling for a lot of the people on the team.”

Neil Cameron, TikTok’s head of Canadian agency partnerships, said the energy in the office changes “day by day.”

“People are really trying to put on a brave face, but it’s really hard when you’re faced with such uncertainty.”

Steve de Eyre, the company’s director of public policy and government affairs, is getting down to business as usual — which includes lobbying the same federal government that has ordered the company to shut down.

He said his work includes “making sure that government agencies, members of Parliament, regulators, understand what the impact of this order would be.”

TikTok Canada is hoping to find a “solution” to the situation, de Eyre said.

“We continue and will continue to reiterate to the government our desire to find a solution that is in the best interests of Canadians.”

The government seems unconvinced. A spokesperson for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the government’s decision is final, and there is no other possibility.

The review that banned the company’s Canadian operation was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to harm national security.

Champagne said in a statement on Nov. 6 the decision was the result of a “multi-step national security review process, which involves rigorous scrutiny by Canada’s national security and intelligence community.”

It said the government was taking action to address “specific national security risks,” though it didn’t specify what those risks are. Champagne has said the Investment Canada Act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Privacy and safety concerns have swirled around TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance Ltd. because of Chinese national security laws that compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

In the United States, those concerns could lead to the app itself being banned in the new year.

Last week, a U.S court ruled that a law that requires ByteDance to divest its stakes in TikTok or face a ban is constitutional. On Monday, TikTok asked the court to bar the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden from enforcing the law. It argues if the law is not overturned, the app will shut down by Jan. 19, 2025, affecting more than 170 million American users.

While the app would remain available to Canadian users, one argument against closing down the Canadian offices is that doing so would make it more difficult for the government to regulate TikTok.

De Eyre said the company has been engaged around various legislation — getting involved in the process of passing and implementing the Online Streaming Act, for example, and partnering with Elections Canada in the last federal election to provide information about voting.

He notes his team, too, is Canadian. “We’ve all worked in government. We all love this country. We understand the political system,” he said.

“We think it’s in everyone’s best interest for there to be employees in Canada that are operating under Canadian law, that are paying Canadian taxes, and are providing localization to the platform.”

The prospect of the TikTok offices shuttering has those employees weighing what’s next.

Cameron said a potential ban would have a huge personal and professional impact, given there are maybe one or two similar roles in Canada. “I’ve really worked hard for 27 years in this industry to earn this role.”

Similarly, Lowers said it would be very difficult for her to find another comparable job in Canada.

“I might have to leave the country.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.

— With files from The Associated Press

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press